This was the first running of the Williams Beales & Gateway Cup Final since 1985 when Glasbury Fc beat Hay reserves 1-0. The reintroduction of the cup was played between local rivals Hay St Mary’s who won the Hay Challenge Cup last season and Talgarth Town who triumphed in the Ron Ellis Cup.

Both teams will be participating in Spar 2 this season and the game started at a steady pace. The visitors started brightly and had the better of things in the first 10 minutes without really testing Hay goalkeeper Steve Jones. The home side then settled and upped the tempo. Matty Tong had a couple of chances well saved by Talgarth keeper Martin Norwood and Darren Horrigan saw his half volley go just over the bar past the beaten keeper. Midfielder Jamie Howard also came close when his curling shot from 20 yards hit the far post. Hay did make the breakthrough on 35 minutes after the impressive Jordan Bailey hit a peach of a shot from 25 yards. Talgarth did have a chance to equalise just before the break but Jones made a good save from a header. 1-0 half time.

The second half started the same as the first ended with Hay having a lot of possession and controlling the pace of the game. The lead was doubled on 55 minutes when substitute James Smith had a free header from 6 yards and made no mistake. The saints were playing with a lot of confidence now and Will Goodwin thumped the crossbar after beating the centre back and Smith was unlucky with a rasping long range effort. The visitors did have a few half chances through Kyle O’Shea who is always a handful up top but it wasn’t to be. Saints captain Chris Preece finished off the scoring on 82 minutes with a glancing header after a fine cross from Harry Gilbert. 3-0 full time.

This was Jenks’ penultimate game in charge before stepping down and he had this to say ” We have had a good pre season on the pitch putting in some pleasing performances. It was nice to finish pre season with a solid display and win some silverware”.

He went on to say ”I will still be on the committee and part of the club and help the new manager with anything needed. We have got a good group of lads who are all keen and eager to do their best for the team. I am fully behind the new manager and would like to wish him and the lads all the best”

A big thanks to Willam Beales & co. for sponsoring the game and help from Michael Harris for getting the cup running again.